a place for Grace Church to share ideas, opportunities, and stories of putting our faith into action.

Day: July 7, 2014

Independence Day is a HUGE day in Lititz, PA. The privately-owned Lititz Springs Park uses the holiday to throw a celebration that can’t be beat, which also raises funds to support the park throughout the year. The park is actually owned by the Lititz Moravian Church, and is managed by a board made up of representatives from borough churches. Grace Church is outside the borough, but when we were approached about being invovled in the festivities this year, we heartily jumped at the opportunity to love on our community. So an army of 130+ volunteers came together to be a part of our “reach out”! (Sidenote: I want to emphasize the “+” because many of the 130 unique individuals served in multiple capacities…so it was really the equivalent of many more volunteers)!

First, a team of creative and constructive minds built an Oz-themed float for the July 3rd parade to go along with the 4th of July theme and to invite people to “Munchkinland” in the park on the 4th. The float was to be manned with live actors/singers, as well as followed by volunteers who would hand out lollipops and professionally-printed invitations to Grace Church, including a coupon for a free coffee and/or kids goodie bag for those who are our guests in July! Unfortunately, the parade was canceled due to dangerous weather.

The weather also made the park unsuitable for the 4th of July festivities, so instead, we celebrated on the 5th this year! Many volunteers made adjustments in order to prioritize serving in their posts; we REALLY appreciate people’s flexibility and willingness to serve! AND, because Grace Church was running children’s activities in Munchkinland all day, the float and our actors didn’t go to waste! The truck (donated by a Grace Church family) was in the middle of the activities and served as a backdrop and popular photo-op all day and all evening! In addition, our OZ actors made appearances and sang throughout the park, smiling for LOTS of photos!

I overheard and had several conversations about Grace Church, and saw the love of Jesus being demonstrated in many practical ways! Let’s pray that people who don’t know Jesus will meet Him as we continue to be Salt & Light in our community!

Thank you for stepping up, Grace Church, to serve thousands and thousands of people who Jesus cares about VERY MUCH!